How to Combat Oily Skin (With Help from NASA)

It's an unfortunate fact that men are naturally sweatier than women. Our skin has more sebum-producing sebaceous glands, and hot, humid weather kicks these glands into overdrive. That means that in the summer months, shine can be a real problem. Enter Oil Eliminator, the latest product series from Kiehl’s that uses space-age technology to combat oily skin.

The 150-year-old brand has built a reputation on experimenting with out-of-the-box ingredients, such as avocado, vitamin C, and a certain African Violet proven to help restore skin cells. For this line, they turned to none other than NASA. The formula's star ingredient, an ingredient called Aerogel, is an ultra-lightweight material often used as insulation for NASA space suits.

Lisa Lesman, Kiehl's assistant vice president, says this is the first time the brand has tapped space-sourced technology. It's also their first product range specifically designed to target "excess oil and shine" on men's skin, she says.

Aerogel's molecular structure is highly porous, meaning that although it is lightweight (the material is actually 99.98% air by volume) it has a huge amount of surface area that can soak up about four times its own weight in oil. And because it's so hydrophobic, it naturally repels water and vaporizes sweat away from your skin.

The Oil Eliminator line includes an exfoliating face wash, spray-on toner, and a 24-hour anti-shine moisturizer to combat oily skin. The exfoliating wash clears your skin of extraneous dirt and grime; the toner nourishes your skin and minimizes the appearance of pores using vegetable-derived amino acids; and the moisturizer seals in all of those benefits by soaking up new oil and preventing further clogs. Our advice: Bring the toner with you for an on-the-go, grease-ridding touch-up.